Situations of Industrial

Relations

Bangladesh
Situations of Industrial Relations in
Bangladesh
 Democracy and Industrial Relations in
Bangladesh
 Democracy in the larger society is a prime
and essential condition for the development
of industrial relations.
Situations of Industrial Relations in
Bangladesh
 In Bangladesh, the extent of democracy is
very poor. It is surprising to note that after
independence, the frequent changes in
government and emergence of military
rule during 1975-1979 and 1982-1990
hampered the democratic environment for
industrial relations in general and trade
unionism in particular.
Situations of Industrial Relations in
Bangladesh
 The labour force participation rate in trade
unionism is only 12%.
 Due to improper physical fitness and lack of
sufficient skill the productivity of our
workers is very low.
 Till now the Government of Bangladesh
could not ensure a satisfactory level of
minimum wage for the workers
Situations of Industrial Relations in
Bangladesh
 Multiplicity of trade unions is one of the great
weaknesses of labour politics in Bangladesh.
 The opportunistic nature of trade union
leadership has been responsible for poor
labour movements.
 Most of the time, the trade union leaders acted
as agents of employers and of the political
governments.
Data of registered trade union on sector basis (from 01/01/2009-
16/02/2014) (BILS)

Division No of No of
unions members
Dhaka 279+2942=(RMG= 406479+700283
210)
Chittagong 1252(RMG=31) 507568
Khulna 791 268088
Rajshahi 1682 364437
Sylhet 119 45201
Barisal 214 32624
Total 7279(RMG=241) 23,24680
List of federation of trade union (from
01/01/2009-16/02/2014) (BILS)
Type of federation No of No of No of
federati unions in members
on the
federation

National federation 32 1352 1076367

Industrial federation (different 84 355 2789021
category
Road transport federation 10 63 56893
(mechanical)
Road transport federation 05 27 52747
(rickshaw)
Garments federation 38 133 65982
Total 166 1930 4041010
Situations of Industrial Relations in
Bangladesh
 State Intervention
 The State has had a major role to play, as a leading
actor in industrial relation.
 It has played a dual role one as the initiator of policy
and the other as on employer, or owner, by setting
an extremely large public sector.
Situations of Industrial Relations in
Bangladesh
 Political Affiliation
 It is very difficult to distinguish between trade unions
and political parties and also between trade union
leaders and politicians.
 In most case, a trade union leader and a politician
was one and the same person.
 Many of the prominent politicians were veteran
trade union leaders and vice –versa.
Situations of Industrial Relations in
Bangladesh
 Industrial disputes

 Industrial disputes in Bangladesh are

quite high. As relatively low percentage
are resolved through employer- employee
bargaining.
 There is a long chain of settlement of
industrial disputes in Bangladesh.

Situations of Industrial Relations in
Bangladesh
 The process in short is charter of demand
placed by trade union or CBA – collective
bargaining – settlement or failing at this
stage follows requisite for conciliation
settlement or certificate – settlement or
appeal to labour court appellate tribunal –
settlement not writ petition to high court.
Situations of Industrial Relations in
Bangladesh
 Corruption practices
 It also observed that corruption and racketing
have long been present in trade union
leadership in Bangladesh.
 Corruption and labour racketing have long been
present in trade unions of different countries in
different forms and degrees.
Situations of Industrial Relations in
Bangladesh
 Practices of Collective Bargaining in Bangladesh

 1.C087 - Freedom of Association and Protection of

the Right to Organise Convention, 1948 (No. 87)22
Jun 1972In Force
 2.C098 - Right to Organise and Collective
Bargaining Convention, 1949 (No. 98)22 Jun 1972In
Force
Situations of Industrial Relations in
Bangladesh
 The Bangladesh Employers’ Association (BEA)
which represents more than 90 per cent of the
industries in the private sector and a good
majority of the factories in the public sector
(which are represented in it through various
sector corporations), does not directly take part
in collective bargaining.
 It only renders advisory services to its member
organizations.
Situations of Industrial Relations in
Bangladesh
 International Labour Organizations
 Bangladesh has been an active member State of
the ILO since 22 June 1972 and has ratified 35
ILO Conventions including seven fundamental
conventions. The ILO opened its office in Dhaka,
Bangladesh on 25 June 1973, and initially started
working on expanding income-earning opportunities
through labour-based infrastructure development
and maintenance.
Situations of Industrial Relations in
Bangladesh
 Areas of work of ILO in Bangladesh
 Child Labour
 Equality and discrimination
 Green jobs
 Informal economy
 International labour standards
 Labour migration
 Safety and health at work
 Skills and employability
 Workers and Employers Organizations
 Decent work in Bangladesh
Situations of Industrial Relations in
Bangladesh
 Ratifications for Bangladesh
 Fundamental Conventions: 7 of 8
 Governance Conventions (Priority): 2 of 4
 Technical Conventions: 26 of 177
 Out of 35 Conventions ratified by Bangladesh.
Situations of Industrial Relations in
Bangladesh
 ILO member States: 186
 ILO instruments adopted: 399
 Conventions: 189
 Protocols: 6
 Recommendations: 204
Problems of IR in BD

1.The industrial relation system is pre-dominantly

confrontational in nature rather than cooperative
in Bangladesh.
2. It is characterized by the pre-dominant position of
informal economy(86%).
3. Union fragmentation and politicization may be a
result of the predominance of public enterprise in
industries and government direct involvement in
wage setting(38 of 42 sector)
Problems of IR in BD

4.Weak labour institutions, The Director of

Labour is responsible for resolving all
industrial disputes, which can not be settled
through collective bargaining procedures.
 . (Total dispute-172, case resolved-
166,waiting for resolved-06(Jan,2012-
Sep.2013)
Problems of IR in BD

5.Lack of enforcement of labour laws ,

6.Conflict-ridden employer-employee relations.
7. Although in recent times the rate of unionization has
increased in the RMG sector(300 TU-till 20 April
2015), trade union affiliation is low in Bangladesh
compared to many other developing countries (TU
Density is 12 percent of the total labour force).
Problems of IR in BD

8. In the case of public sector enterprises collective

bargaining is very limited as the government
often determines the wage levels for workers in
a number of sectors,
a practice that has been criticized by the ILO control
organs on the grounds that it limits the capacity of
the social partners to participate in the
settlement of their working conditions.
Problems of IR in BD

9. The main aim of employers’ organizations is

to deliver members a variety of services,
including in the human resources field, to
address issues related to collective
bargaining.
But the employers’ organizations are
fragmented and lack understanding of
labour laws and the enforcement
mechanisms.
Problems of IR in BD

10.The deliberate discouragement by the

government and owners to forms trade union
and collective bargaining is responsible for present
unrest in RMG sector.
11. in Bangladesh, the ability of unions to represent
and defend the interest of workers is
constrained by many factors including
restrictive regulations, and political division
amongst them.
Problems of IR in BD

 12.A large number of TU represent only a

small percentage of unionized workers(12
percent).

 13.The Multiplicity of TUs which suffer from

inter-union and intra-union rivalry due to
political influence makes the application of
CB practices difficult.
Problems of IR in BD

 14.The experience of labour court , which are

responsible for disposing disputes when
efforts of conciliation or resolution fails, is not
encouraging.
 Up to 10.03.2015, total case filed 17322,
disposed 461, and remained case 16861.
Problems of IR in BD

15.The role of Minimum Wage Board (MWB)

does not, however , have the capacity to
collect and analysis data relevant to the
determination of fair minimum wage.
Problems of IR in BD

16.The Labour Law,2006(amendment-2013)

provided for the establishment of a
participation committee with equal
representation from the workers and
management in every firm employing 50 or
more workers .
Neither the TU nor the management are
interested in the success of PC.
Problems of IR in BD

 According to Nazrul Islam Khan, :

 “It is true that the formulation of the law in respect of
Participation Committee is far from effective. It is difficult to
carry the commitment of the workers to fulfill production target
when they are not discussed when the target is fixed. It is also
too much to expect that the workers’ representatives will sit in
the meeting of the committee every two months only to
discuss, exchange views and recommend measures on
paramount issues of their interest which the employer may
just ignore and reject without, even mentioning any
reason.”(Nazrul Islam Khan, ‘Trade Unions, Productivity and
Industrial Relations’, Labour, 2nd issue, April- June 1999,
BILS, p. 4. )
Recent Initiatives in Industrial Relations

 1. amendment of labour law-2013

 2.trade union registration
 3. Bangladesh labour rules-2015
 4. up gradation of DIFE as a Department -
2013 (993 staff)
 5.training for labour inspectors(285
inspectors)
 6.publicaly accessible data base
Recent Initiatives in Industrial Relations

 7.hot line/help line(0800-4455000)

 8.minimug wages(38 of 42 sectors)
 9.inspection plan and inspection policy-2015
 10.regular inspections(7406 factories
inspected including 962 RMG)
 11.Tripartite national plan of action on fire
safety and structural integrity in the RMG was
adopted with the assistance of ILO
Recent Initiatives in Industrial Relations

 12.better work program in RMG has been

launched on 22.10.2013 by ILO. about 300
factories are expected to participate.
 13.Training activities by the Department of
Labour
 14.Study by the BIDS (work place safety
and IR: Current status of the export
oriented RMG industry in Bangladesh).
Recent Initiatives in Industrial Relations

 15.Cabinet committee on RMG

 16. committee on RMG factory improvement
 17.tripatite standing committee-RMG (headed
by the secretary , ministry of commerce)
 18. up to date labour policy-2012
Recent Initiatives in Industrial Relations

 19. national child labour elimination policy-

2010
 20.national household worker protection and
welfare policy-2016
 21. labour welfare foundation act-
2006(amendment-2013)
 22. labour welfare foundation rules-2010
 23. Introduce group insurance for workers
Recent Initiatives in Industrial Relations

 24. national occupational health and safety

policy-2013
 25.Natioal skill development policy-2011
 Private road transport workers welfare fund
rules-2012
 26. digital activities by DIFE and DL
 27. industrial police